the purse in advertising and film





            in advertising
 

the purse in this advertisement is being used as an implement to aid the woman in guarding herself against harm. the slogan says "carry protection", thus indicating that our purse can be used not only to conceal our personal possessions, but also to use as a weapon in the case of an attack, thus reminding us of the many uses of our  trusted friend.
the handbag in this advertisement is being used as an implement of social acceptance. the model wears plainly coloured clothes and a flashy green army coloured bag. here the slogan says "get noticed", indicating that your bag is the element that distinguishes you from all the others. if you carry a great purse, you are sure to be popular. 

            in film
 

          the purse figures strongly in film culture as a cinematic device; the purse which is unceremoniously dumped out onto the bed and its contents searched; the purse which accidentally spill its contents for all the world to see; the purse which is snatched by a thief on a motorbike; the purse which wielded like a weapon in self defense; the purse that is rifled through by the teenager looking for cash; the purse that hides the spoils of kleptomania; the purse which conceals the weapon or the gun from its unsuspecting victim; the purse which is snapped with the precision that only a spinster or librarian could muster. Hitchcock used the purse as a symbolic device over and over again. in "marnie" the kleptomaniac played by tippi hedren hides the stolen cash in her handbag, as does marion crane in "phsyco" when she takes the bank deposit from the office. in "rear window" grace kelly's character pulls several diaphanous items out of her purse to the sheer amazement of jimmy stewart. in an episode of "friends" the character joey played by matt leblanc, carries the european men's handbag, lovingly called the 'murse' or man's purse by some. in the film "hairspray" there is a scene at the end where a riot ensues and the character played by michael st-gerard is beaten severely, leaving him temporarily paralyzed. like cinema itself, the purse is as much about revealing information as it is about concealment. to unlock its contents by someone other then its owner is a transgressive gesture that is both coded and gendered. when asked to retrieve an item from a woman's handbag, most men are reticent to do so. are they afraid of accidentally happening upon an object of feminine hygiene or is their hesitation about a fundamental violation of a woman's private space.

 

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